Bill Gates: ‘If I designed the tax system, I would be tens of billions poorer’

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/bill-gates-interview-whats-next-future-netflix-b2605759.html

42 comments

  2. Bill Gates with his ex-wife Melinda donates billions of dollars towards education. However, that it isn’t enough, the United States needs to tax all of its 750+ billionaires for funding to train and educate the workforce of American corporations in the future. The United States needs to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in order to make sure American companies remain competitive.

    If billionaires cared about the future of their companies they would insist that all billionaires are taxed more so the money gets invested into the system which supports their companies.

    Also, if Bill Gates didn’t donate billions towards education, he would be worth much more than Elon Musk who is a weak impotent sack of greasy flesh.

  3. It’s funny how us relatively poor people on this thread are attacking him for saying he’d pay more taxes.

    That’s some severely institutionalized shit.

    I’m done with the internet tonight.

  6. This comment section is god awful. Just turn back now.

  8. In a democracy no 1 person should ever have enough money to influence an election in a democracy.

  10. This is why i stan the gates.

    He’s right, it would take taxing the other billionaires to make bigger positive change, the burden can’t all be on him. Dude donates much more than he’s required to charities already.

  11. Funny how people are jumping all over Gates, a billionaire who has for decades advocated for higher taxes on the rich (he can’t make the laws, guys) and who has given at least $45 billion to charities. Musk has donated $125 million of which $100 million went to the TX county where he put SpaceX. Trump is/was (?) a billionaire who stole from his charities and gave himself a fat tax cut. But, yeah, rag on Gates.

  12. Then why doesn’t he spend say 1 billion helping elect politicians who will raise his taxes?

  13. Then maybe start a PAC that pushes for tax reform Bill

  14. I like to think of tens of billions as tens of thousands of millions.

  15. I won’t decry how great Bill Gates has been for certain causes like malaria or the good that his foundation has done, but when I hear stuff like this I can’t help but think that he’s saying it from a position where he knows it won’t happen.

    Bill Gates does not want to pay more in taxes. He’s saying this shit because he knows it won’t happen. The last time this was attempted and it looked like there was a chance of a D getting into office he decried the attempt https://finance.yahoo.com/video/bill-gates-critical-sen-elizabeth-212319537.html/.

    Kamala is correctly sidestepping this issue and focusing on a tax cut for the middle class because it’s basically a losing issue at the moment. The super wealthy don’t want to pay more taxes regardless of how much they are virtue signaling.

  16. Ok…. So how many billions does he have if tens of billions poorer isn’t broke!!

  18. These crappy “they should tax me more…” statements that everyone eats up

    Just tell your tax accountants to stop taking all the write offs & loopholes available

    You can start paying more today!

  19. Only tens of billions. So even this man knows the tax system is a joke.

  20. And his life would be exactly the same. 

    That’s the greatest blind spot in this entire discussion is they couldn’t possibly even miss the money. It would make zero effect in their lives and their businesses. They have a cache of money that could easily last 500 years with nobody in their direct generational tree ever having to work. 

    That’s what the billionaires are fighting for, numbers on a spreadsheet that ultimately means absolutely nothing in this lifetime, or the next, or the one after that 

  22. He’s full of shit. When Elizabeth Warren ran on taxing the ultra wealthy he spoke out against it.

  23. If only he had been in some position to influence things…

  24. Right, is that why he always gets salty whenever someone proposes a wealth tax?

  25. He isn’t poor, so he cannot be poorer, but I get the point and that’s a lovely sentiment.

  26. Let’s be frank Bill, “poor” should not be a word in your dictionary

  27. why is bill gates being disengenuous? i mean, if he had less money due to taxes during microsoft’s growth period, he’d have taken less risks. If he had taken less risks, what makes him think microsoft today would even be a fraction of what it is now?

  29. Well, Bill, you can pay your fair share of taxes instead of using very single loophole available to you! Your companies could pay their fair too!

  31. from a man worth $137 billion. If he lost $20 billion, I don’t think he would notice, however I trust him to give the money to worthy charities, more than I trust the government (both sides) to spend it wisely.

  32. Nothing sucks more than having $140 Billion instead of $170 Billion.

  33. He’d still be tens of billions richer than 99% of Americans.

    That would be true for any billionaire. Any amount of money lost to increased taxes would still leave them unfathomably rich compared to the rest of America.

    They can afford it.

  34. Billionaire says if he ran things he’d have less money and people believe him?

    I know he’s donating his fortune now. A. How he got the fortune is extremely… iffy to say the best, he was not a “good businessman” Really rotten stuff there.

    B. He’s more than welcome to pay more taxes if that’s what he thinks is necessary.

    C. This is just PR. The last 10-20 years has been Bill Gates trying to rehabilitate his image because it was really bleak. Look at Pirates of Silcon Valley, that’s who Bill Gates was before this “Humanitarian aide”. Good people don’t become uber wealthy, and Bill was straight up evil.

    This thread is kind of gross to me because “Oh he donates shit tons of money what a swell guy” Again, look how he got shit tons of money… he’s not the champion you want.

  36. “… I would be poorer.” Can you please say “less rich”. For the sake of decency. Thank you.

  37. But would he notice being tens of billions poorer. He’s got more money than he could ever spend

  38. When even a mega billionaire says to tax the fucking rich maybe you have a problem

  39. He’s saying what he has to say in order to please the socialists. His company’s only goal is world-wide domination. They have broken every competition law there is to get there. And what about hiding $40 billion in Puerto Rico so they can avoid US taxes?

  41. Well chop chop Uncle Billy. With my luck he would lose $10 billion and I’d get a $1 check for a toilet paper tax credit I was owed in 1997. All talk and no bite typical billionaire.

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